Various types of bicycle carrier racks and carrier devices are known in the prior art as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,537,441; 3,301,448; 3,779,435; 3,837,545; 3,910,471; 3934,770; 4,258,870; 4,266,702; 4,349,138; 4,350,361 and 4,562,944. It is a well-recognized axiom that the reduction of weight of all elements of such a vehicle is of primary importance. Ease of attachment of the carrier to the vehicle has also received considerable attention heretofore. With these two goals in mind, the prior art seems to have missed a very important point, namely, how does the load fit to the carrier? For example, "basket"-type carriers have been known for nearly as long as bicycles. However, such "basket"-type carriers are limited in their usefulness if the load does not fit in the basket. It is also known in the art to provide saddle bag carriers for motorcycles and the like. However, such saddle bag carriers are of little use if the given load does not fit in the bag.
The load-carrying capability of light-weight vehicles, such as bicycles was not utilizable to its fullest extent by existing prior art devices. For example, the distance from one end to the other of many prior carrier racks fixes the maximum size of the load that can be carried. Similarly, the fixed width of the prior carriers limits the width of an object that can be stably carried upon them.
It can be seen that present article carriers suffer from many disadvantages. My invention, particularly applicable to bicycles, overcomes all the previously mentioned disadvantages by providing a significantly improved adjustable load-carrying capability while maintaining as good or better a strength-to-weight ratio and ease of attachment as any other known system.